May 2014

[Charliecat5]

Monday morning is pencilled in to try again.

Room for a small* one?



*lardy slow-coach

There could be if you don't mind carrying me up the steep bits.

[Sweder]

We could re-hydrate afterwards.
The Pelham has a tasty new beverage on tap, a nettle beer.
Or so I hear.

[Charliecat5]

We could re-hydrate afterwards.
The Pelham has a tasty new beverage on tap, a nettle beer.
Or so I hear.

Sadly my run tomorrow, should I make it, will be followed by 4 hours in the car as I set out on the first leg to Carlisle.

[Charliecat5]

At 8:30 this morning I was standing in the pouring rain next to Jill’s Pond waiting for Sweder to arrive, not because he was late you understand but because I was early. I had already run 1.5 miles including a sharp incline so was struggling to hear over the noise of my pounding heart and gasping breath… however, I needn’t have worried, as before long I could hear something loud and clear, but what was it…

… was it a disease ridden old billy goat wheezing from the other side of the copse? Noooo…

… was it the 8:30 Great Western puffing into the station after a fierce fire roaring trip from Plymouth? Noooo…

… was it a clapped out old Harley Davidson struggling to gain traction up the hill? Noooo…

… was it the strange man of the hills who goes by the name of Sweder?... COULD BE?

And this is how my first run, running with a runner started.

I was nervous to be honest, it wasn’t as though my first run with a runner was with a fellow newbie; it wasn’t even with someone who had only been running for a couple of years; this was a run with Sweder, the man whose reputation goes before him (you can debate what sort of reputation it is that actually goes before him).

So where are we heading he says… let’s try Blackcap and see what happens I say… so off we go at a pace that was slightly above my comfort zone, down through the woods and up over the moor to Mount Harry and then onwards to the top of Blackcap.

And it’s alright so far, it seems that he is better on the flats but the hills are holding the old man back a bit. So a quick jelly baby stop and I ask “where next?” Let’s run over there he says… and very slowly it dawns on me that his finger isn’t pointing back to Lewes, well not the way back to Lewes I was hoping for, but was in fact pointing over the A27 straight towards THE RELENTLESS BASTARD. He can’t be serious! It is only just a week ago since I conquered that bastard, and he wants me to do it again. What could I say… you can’t say no to the Running Man. So off we went.

And funnily enough it was alright… I have discovered that I like running with company - it seems to make the tough bits easier, and the easier bits more enjoyable. Last week when I was running down the steep chalk path back to Kingston I was in agony, this week we seemed to dance down it like a couple of (slightly wonky) mountain goats.

So what I have I learnt from this morning’s experience:

+ He talks a lot

+ Jelly babies are just the thing when out running

+ The tops of my feet hurt - something I have noticed in the last couple of runs – any thoughts welcome.

+ My pace today was 40 seconds a mile slower than when I did this run last week… but I feel better for it. As the man says: it’s time on your feet that counts; not the speed you do it.

+ That the wheezing old billy goat running next to me has got these strange springs in his legs that can just keep going and going and going, whatever the terrain.

+ In the last couple of miles, when he tells you he’s stiffening up… it’s time to put on a spurt (so to speak).

And on that note, I thoroughly enjoyed this morning’s run, and for all my piss taking it was great to be out running with someone else and particularly great to be out running with Sweder. My running enters a new era.

[glaconman]

Charlie;

Good to see you discovering the advantages of running in a pair. It really does allow you to run further and often makes the run appear easier.

The pain on top of your feet could be your metatarsals? If it's close to your toes. I think this can be a result of hill work which encourages you to run on your toes. An ice bath for your feet is a good way to make them feel better. Although it can be an unpleasant experience.

[Charliecat5]

The pain on top of your feet could be your metatarsals? If it's close to your toes. I think this can be a result of hill work which encourages you to run on your toes. An ice bath for your feet is a good way to make them feel better. Although it can be an unpleasant experience.

The pain is actually just below my ankle bone and slightly over the top of my foot. Sweder has suggested that my shoes may be causing the problem. It's only started since I have pushed over 10 miles.

[Charliecat5]

The use of willpower to overcome physical problems.

I know I keep going on about this... but I find the psychology of running fascinating.

I will tell anyone who is prepared to listen that I am a morning runner/biker... at my best fresh out of bed; yet whilst I believe this to be true, I am starting to discover that my quickest runs are in the evening (I have the stats to prove it).

I set off this evening for a 4 miler over to Kingston and up the 'Hill of Doom' to the Kingston tops. In my mind I felt heavy and slow, I had a niggling stitch most of the way back, plus I didn't feel that real sense of freedom I often get when the day is in its infancy... yet, in reality it was quick, much quicker than I have done it before. This tells me that the whole morning vs. evening thing is more likely an issue in my head than in my feet.

4.5 miles, 590 ft and an ave moving pace of 9.06 mi/min (ave pace 9.11)

"It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves" -Sir Edmund Hillary

[marathondan]

Yep, you (and Sir Edmund) are dead right - once you've got the basic fitness, it's a mind game, a battle against yourself. Even posting on here is, in a sense, a tactic to make yourself enjoy running more.

[Charliecat5]

One of my favourite pastimes is seeing bands play live and getting 'stuck in' to the middle of a mosh pit. The heat, the intensity, the slamming and letting yourself go in a cauldron of sweat and bare flesh; you can't beat it. The downside of spending a couple of hours in a mosh pit are the bruises and aches and pains that follow - last night, washing the bruises away with a couple of pints seemed a good plan... image how I felt this morning when I woke up at 7am and remembered that today was the day I was meant to biking the Moyleman with a camera strapped to the front of my bike.

When we ran the Moyleman trial back in March, the plan had been to film the run so we could use a timelaspe to help promote the 2015 event - attract runners, sponsors and the like; but a third of the way through the bracket that holds the camera to the bike snapped, and that was that. So I needed to do it again, and having procrastinated for weeks I had finally decided that today was the day.

The trouble is, since the Moyleman, I haven't done much biking. Inspired by Moyles, et al. I started running and this has, I discovered this morning, had a negative impact on the muscles I usually use for biking. They've weakened - not helped by last nights shenanigans.

All I can say is that I did it... but Caburn was a nightmare... a major bout of muscle cramp meant that I had to walk a section of it, but once over the top when flying down Chapel Hill it was a great feeling of achievement. Sadly though, when I biked the last 100 yards along Cliffe High Street and round the corner to the John Harvey Tavern there was no one there cheering me on; no one congratulating me, no one to buy me a pint of Harveys and a plate of chips. Oh well, roll on March 15th 2015.

The goods news is that the camera worked - I am now downloading approximately 14,000 pictures which I then need to convert into a movie.

Onwards and upwards.

[Sweder]

A top effort, Sir. Can't wait to see that movie (but appreciate. I may have to)

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

Fantastic! Top effort!